The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Ithaca-Eni deal creates UK North Sea’ s second biggest oil and gas firm
North Sea oil and gas company Ithaca Energy has confirmed a deal to combine its business with “substantially all” of the UK assets of Italy’s Eni.
Eni is taking a 38.5% stake in Aberdeen-based Ithaca.
The merger deal was mooted at the time of Ithaca’s annual results in March.
It creates the UK’s second largest oil and gas firm after Harbour Energy.
The business could be producing 150,000 barrels a day by early next decade
The combination will initially deliver production of 100,000-110,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, thanks to stakes in six of the UK’s 10 biggest oil and gas fields.
But it is thought this could soar to 150,000boe per day by the early 2030s.
Ithaca said this would see it leapfrogging Harbour to become the UK’s top producer.
Eni acquired its UK North Sea assets through a £3.8 billion-plus takeover of Neptune Energy last year.
They include an operated 38.75% interest in the Cygnus gasfield in the southern North Sea, and non-operated stakes in Elgin Franklin, the J-Area, Seagull and Tommeliten A.
These assets have all been managed from offices on North Esplanade West, Aberdeen.
About 100 staff in Aberdeen, among 200 in the UK, transferred to Eni from Neptune.
The deal between Ithaca and Rome-headquartered Eni excludes East Irish Sea assets and UK-based carbon capture, utilisation and storage activities.
Ithaca said it now had “the agility of an independent and the capability of a major”.
Gilad Myerson, the firm’s executive chairman, added: “The transformational combination with Eni UK will further enhance Ithaca Energy’s position as a leading UKCS (UK continental shelf) production and growth company.”
The deal creates a North Sea empire with “substantial scale and longevity” he said.
He continued: “The enlarged group will benefit from increased financial strength to support the execution of our ‘buy, build and boost’ strategy, and gain access to Eni’s worldclass technical capabilities.
“The combination will create a solid platform which can underpin material shareholder distributions, including an ambition to pay special dividends in 2024 and 2025, as well as future
Support the execution of our buy, build and boost strategy
organic and inorganic growth.”
In March, London-listed Ithaca reported pre-tax profits of £239.3 million for 2023.
This was down from nearly £1.8bn the year before.
The firm’s 2023 profits performance was hit by write-downs on development and production assets totalling nearly £442m.
Revenue for the latest period came in at £1.84bn, down from £2.06bn previously.
Future output will also be boosted by investment in Ithaca’s enhanced oil recovery project on Captain as well as the firm’s 20% share in production from the Rosebank development west of Shetland.